Chance a black guy for HYPSM and more

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi guys so I'm applying to Stanford [SCEA], MIT, all the Ivies, Caltech, UC Berkeley (instate), Duke, Harvey Mudd, UChicago, and JHU.</p>

<p>Ethnicity: Black
Income level: Low I think, my dad makes 20k and my mom works part time and makes 10k, and I have a twin sister [in case youre wondering, she isn't applying to any of these schools]... we have no inherited family money... is that considered low?? I go to private school but I'm on very high levels of financial aid, I think like 95%.
Residence: California; my family's all American citizen born & brought up
Gender: Male</p>

<p>SAT: 2250 (one try; not retaking it): 800 math, 700 writing (8 essay), 750 Reading- taken in june
ACT 34- last year</p>

<p>Subject SATs: Math2 (800)- frosh year, Bio (M) (770)- frosh yr, World (650)- soph yr [idk why i did so bad on this cuz i got a 4 on the ap], Chem (800) jr yr, Physics (800) jr yr, English Lit (710) jr yr</p>

<p>I was homeschooled till high school. My grades suck; I kinda explain why below.
In 8th grade I took AP Calc AB (5), and AP Computer Science A (5) tests.</p>

<p>9th grade:
AP Calculus BC: A+/A+, 5 on AP test
AP Human Geo: C-/B-, 2 on AP test
AP Biology: C+/B, 4 on AP test
English 1 Honors: C+/D-
Gym [1st semester; not in official GPA]: A+
Art [2nd semester; not in official GPA]: B+
AP Computer Science AB: B+/A, 5 on AP test
Spanish 2 H: B/B-
UW GPA 2.83, W GPA 3.83</p>

<p>Summer class at comm college: Logic (A+)</p>

<p>10th grade:
Multivariate Calc H: A+/A+ (top of class)
Geology H: A-/A-
AP World: B-/C+, 4 on AP test
English 2: B-/B-
AP Stats: A+/A+, 5 on AP test
Gym [1st sem, not in official GPA): A
Web Design H [2nd sem]: A-
Spanish 3: A/B
UW GPA 3.54, W GPA 4.23</p>

<p>Summer at comm college: Number Theory (A+)</p>

<p>11th grade:
AP Chemistry: A/A-, 5 on AP test
AP Physics B: A+/A+, 5 on AP test
US History: C+/C-
English Language AP: B/B+, 5 on AP test
Linear Algebra H [1st sem]: A
Modern Algebra H [2nd sem]: A-
AP Environmental Science: A/A+, 5 on AP test
AP Economics Macro B+ [1st sem], 4 on AP test
AP Economics Micro A- [2nd sem], 5 on AP test
UW GPA 3.50, W GPA 4.36</p>

<p>Summer at comm college: Discrete math (A); i also did blue mop last year</p>

<p>[GPA doesn't include comm college classes]
Overall UW before 12th: 3.307692...
Overall W before 12th: 4.153846...</p>

<p>12th grade:
AP Physics C: Mechanics [1st semester]
AP Physics C: E&M [2nd semester]
AP Psych
Ordinary Differential Equations H [1st semester]
Partial Differential Equations H [2nd semester]
English Literature
AP Comparative Govt & Politics [1st semester]
Art [2nd semester]
AP Spanish Lang (counselor made me take this)</p>

<p>So far my physics, diff eq, psych, and lit classes are really easy, I have an A+ in the first 3 and a B+ in lit but I think I can get an A, altho it's not AP or honors. I have a D+ in Gov because I forgot to do some of the assignments. I have an F in Spanish but my counselor said I need 4 years of language for some of these schools so I'm taking it. I didn't take reg spanish 4 because that conflicted with physics C. I'm shooting for a C- in spanish, which is a 69.5%, however right now I have a 44.5% and I'm pretty sure I got under 30% on the last test, also I forgot to turn in the hw, so that's even gonna go down.</p>

<p>EC: USAMO 7th grade, 9th-11th grade [and hopefully again], blue mop last year</p>

<p>Did USACO last year just for fun but i didnt advance</p>

<p>Varsity Basketball 9th-12th grade [competitive team) (only freshman to make the team since a guy did it 3 years before; the next freshman who made it was this year). My coach says I'd be a good D2 player. D1, probly not. I'd like to play shooting guard; I can shoot 3 pointers really well, have great dribbling skills, can do a variety of dunks, and have a phenomenal free throw percentage (over 95%), and am a good rebounder; besides my coach says that's the most suitable position for me. (I'm 6'5). Defense is my weaker aspect by a bit</p>

<p>Math club 4 yrs, president jr/sr year [we do CAML, ARML and stuff too]
[Mu alpha theta]</p>

<p>NHS 4 yrs (yup, you only need a 3.0 weighted and no F's to be eligible each semester...)</p>

<p>Drums 5 years</p>

<p>i also rap as a hobby and make my own beats (i dont think im putting this as an EC though, probably not important to college)</p>

<p>Work experience: Summer jobs each summer after frosh, soph, jr, year, just to help support the family, did in addition to college classes</p>

<p>Made competitive HS football team Frosh year [quit after couldn't handle workload], competitive HS Baseball team frosh year [same deal as football], and did debate Frosh year till i quit for the same reasons; i used to play tennis from 5th to 8th grade but stopped upon entering HS. i dont think i can put these on my app</p>

<p>JV Track soph year, V track jr, sr year (100, 200, 400m)</p>

<p>ASB Class rep frosh yr, treasurer soph yr, Secretary jr year and President sr year</p>

<p>Robotics 4 yrs, VEX team leader sr year (competitive team)</p>

<p>Eagle scout (obtained at age 13) (still involved with scouts)</p>

<p>Yearbook 4 years</p>

<p>My essays have been already written for the most part and are supposedly phenomenal according to everyone I've shown them here. not posting topic though. For all of the colleges with optional essays i'm writing those too
I will be getting an interview at all colleges that have it, including those for which it's optional (not sure if any are though). i should impress, i've been told i have a great personality</p>

<p>Recs- english lit teacher (ive known him since freshman year cuz of yearbook and i think i can get an A in his class... he likes me alot)
math teacher (had him for multi calc, both algebras, and for both diff eq courses, he loves me and thinks im brilliant)
supplemental- probably scout master</p>

<p>Why is my GPA so low? Part of it is, I just suck at humanities [yes, i know i did pretty well on the SAT writing + reading, but I consider that a lot more formulaic than the stuff we do in class]. Part of it is I have some kind of learning disorder that makes it very hard to focus on stuff I think is boring or when I have too much work/ am very stressed. Part of it is my school is really competitive and hard. Part of it is I dont have much time to study because I have a lot of chores to do since my parents are busy. Finally, it was hard to cope with the work load, especially frosh year, from being home schooled. I think i've got an upward trend though. (btw, I can't retake the D- in english 1h, you only retake courses in the summer if u get an F for it, but both show up on your transcript and the F is the only one that counts for GPA anyway).</p>

<p>sorry for the long post guys. do you guys think i need more safeties cuz of my horrible grades?</p>

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<p>USAMO 7th grade??? Blue MOP? Dang, man. I’m pretty sure your math credentials make up for your relatively low GPA.</p>

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<p>You definitely have a shot.</p>

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<p>Don’t know if this is real, since it’s another case of a grand tale from a brand new poster.</p>

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<p>Why do you doubt the OP? you don’t think a black guy is capable of being an academic overachiever? He probably lurked around this website for a while, decided to make a chance thread so he created an account. I used to lurk around this website before finally creating an account. This is probably the guy’s case as well.</p>

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<p>You have a real shot at all schools, it just depends on how each of them interpret your low GPA. write great essays too</p>

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<p>Before I saw your GPA, I was thinking, wow, so far this guy is definitely going to get into a couple of these schools… </p>

<p>Now, I’m not sure. Everyone else seems to think you still have a chance, so perhaps that is the case… I’d say a 3.3 is too low though, even though you are an URM.</p>

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<p>■■■■■. There were no AA people at MOP last year. I assume everything else is a lie as well.</p>

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<p>well the jokes on OP, this likely took him over 20 minutes to type up</p>

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<p>lol epic fail dude, no one with a 2.83 UWgpa or whatever would qualify for USAMO. even black status wont save you</p>

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<p>you don’t think a black guy is capable of being an academic overachiever? Having read apps for a top school, I know there are plenty of impressively high-achieving minorities out there- and not all of them are the privileged kids of the upper classes.</p>

<p>Frankly, in all the words, I originally missed the home school line. It’s not unusual to see kids push the limits (rigor,) when they had home school experience. You’ll appeal to top schools, you’ll likely get past the early rounds. Where push will come to shove is the weak humanities- some expectation that 10th & 11th humanities grades would have shown a marked improvement. How this will be viewed depends on the strength of the LoRs and essays, the competition from kids at your hs and in your area.</p>

<p>Why, oh why, do kids ask for chances and then skip the possible major? Can we assume STEM? You need to have some safeties you love, that will offer good finaid. In the meantime, it won’t hurt to try to make contact with your admissions rep. Find a legit reason to get on their radar.</p>

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<p>“So far my physics, diff eq, psych, and lit classes are really easy, I have an A+ in the first 3 and a B+ in lit but I think I can get an A, altho it’s not AP or honors. I have a D+ in Gov because I forgot to do some of the assignments. I have an F in Spanish but my counselor said I need 4 years of language for some of these schools so I’m taking it. I didn’t take reg spanish 4 because that conflicted with physics C. I’m shooting for a C- in spanish, which is a 69.5%, however right now I have a 44.5% and I’m pretty sure I got under 30% on the last test, also I forgot to turn in the hw, so that’s even gonna go down.”</p>

<p>This type of academic behavior may cost you. Remember, there are thousands of others black kids who apply with better GPAs.
My suggestion: Make sure your first semester grades are EXCELLENT for the mid-year report. I wouldn’t recommend applying early for Stanford. Wait so they can see your senior year 1st semester grades.</p>

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<p>This. While lopsided students do exist, they’re not this lopsided.</p>

<p>Nevertheless, this thread provides an interesting hypothetical question to ponder - what would schools do with a black applicant with these stats? On one hand achievement at this level in an academic competition is a once-per 5 years type occurrence for the AA admissions group, meaning admission should be assured for this student, but on the other hand those are some REALLY low grades.</p>

<p>Personally, I say in at Caltech and rejected from the others.</p>

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<p>If not a ■■■■■- I’d say in at schools which do not have competitive D1 basketball teams that the coach wants you there badly. I also think you should consider a school like WashU which will really like your strong math skills and would be a basketball superstar.</p>

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<p>If this were a real person, every college in America would be begging him to attend. However, we have that little discrepancy about MOP, don’t we?</p>